When you hear the word ‘Bingo’ you don’t usually think about using it to teach English. Surprisingly EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers all over the world use bingo to teach students new English vocabulary words, and students love it.
If you’re a teacher and have never thought about the value of bingo in the classroom, here’s how to get started.
1. Assign your EFL students a list of 20-30 new English words to learn. Tell them they need to know them by the next class period. To make it easier, choose categories like ‘Animals’, ‘Countries’ or ‘Food’, as it’s often easier for kids to remember vocabulary on a specific theme.
2. On the bingo day, hand out blank sheets of paper, draw a bingo card on the board (four across and four down works out well for kids), and ask your students to copy it. Then tell them to choose words from the vocabulary list you gave them and write them in whichever square they like. Just make sure they understand they can only use each word once.
3. Write down the 20-30 words you assigned on the blackboard, so you can point to them as you’re calling out the words, as some kids will have problems with the way you pronounce certain words.
4. Explain the rules of bingo – they must get four down, four across or four diagonally. Then get started. The first student who shouts ‘bingo’ or ‘spela bingo‘, of course, wins.
Don’t forget, you can spend the whole class period playing and the kids will never get bored. Plus, studies show children who are taught English by playing games tend to learn vocabulary faster and remember it for longer. They have fun doing it too.
To make it even more exciting, you can give a small packet of candy to each student who shouts ‘bingo’. Just don’t be surprised if your students want to play bingo every class from now on.